Two Tivos To Paradise 07.08.11: The Fifth Annual Norty Awards, Celebrating the Best in Television for the 2010-2011 Season

Posted by Al Norton on 07.08.2011

Was Steve Carrell the best lead actor of the 2010 – 2011 season or did Alec Baldwin take the spot? What's the best drama of the year, Mad Men or The Walking Dead? All this and more in the fifth annual Norty Awards!



Hello friends. I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday weekend. Ours was jam packed filled with family and friends, with one of the major highlights being the twins walking the full mile and a half around Jamaica Pond with me and my Dad on Friday; they will be 3 in August so I thought a walk of that distance was pretty impressive. Also impressive was their streak of 10 mornings in a row of being up and ready for the day at 5:30am. Ok, maybe annoying is really the word I am looking for here.

We've got our third giveaway in as many weeks and this one is, in my opinion, Our. Biggest. Ever. The folks at HGTV are promoting the premiere of the new season of HGTV Design Star, Monday at 9pm…





So what is being given away? Try a $100.00 American Express Gift Card!!!!

Enter today for your chance to win a $100 American Express Gift Card brought to you by HGTV DESIGN STAR and catch the season premiere on Monday, July 11th at 9pm ET/PT on HGTV!
HGTV's top-rated reality competition, HGTV Design Star, returns for a dynamic sixth season. The one-hour series features 12 competitive and creative finalists executing ingenious designs, as well as an illustrious judging panel of acclaimed HGTV interior designers (Genevieve Gorder, Candice Olson and Vern Yip) and special celebrity guests. The finalists, who include professional interior designers, contractors, stylists and artists, must navigate innovative design challenges and dazzle the judges with creativity and ingenuity until one wins their own show on HGTV. Visit http://www.hgtv.com/designstar for more details on each of our contestants!

Here's how it works – go to our Facebook page, click "Like" if you have not already, and then post "HGTV Design Star will win a Norty next year" on our wall. We'll pick a winner at random on Monday afternoon. One entry per person, please, and if you've won anything from us in 2011 than you aren't eligible.

You'd think that people would have had enough of silly news songs.

How About A Round Of Applause, A Standing Ovation
It's time for the FIFTH annual Norty Awards, the Two Tivos To Paradise version of the Emmys. The Emmy nominations will be announced next Thursday (with full coverage available here the next day) so we roll out our dream ballot for you today.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY
Ty Burrell, Modern Family (ABC)
Chris Colfer, Glee (Fox)
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Ed O'Neill , Modern Family (ABC)
Brian Van Holt, Cougar Town (ABC)

Toughest Omissions: Donald Glover, Community; Danny Pudi, Community; Chevy Chase, Community; Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family; Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family; Christian Slater, Breaking In; Jason Segal, HIMYM; Dule Hill, PSYCH

Previous Winners: 2010: Danny Pudi, Community; 2009: Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother; 2008: Chi McBride, Pushing Daisies; 2007: Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother

Winner: Ed O'Neill. Modern Family

This category is an embarrassment of riches but O'Neill was the best of the best, with the highlight episode being where he got drunk with Mitch and Cam's friends. O'Neill is a master at displaying gruff charm and his moments of warmth are never at the cost of the laughter.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY
Alison Brie, Community (NBC)
Julie Bowen, Modern Family (ABC)
Jane Lynch, Glee (Fox)
Busy Phillips, Cougar Town (ABC)
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family (ABC)
Casey Wilson, Happy Endings (ABC)

Toughest Omissions: Aiesha Taylor, Archer; Heather Morris, Glee; Bonnie Somerville, The Big C; Alyson Hannigan, HIMYM; Eden Scher, The Middle

Previous Winners: 2010: Jane Lynch, Glee; 2009: Kristen Wiig, SNL; 2008: Amy Pietz, Aliens In America; 2007: Ashley Jensen, Extras

Winner: Jane Lynch, Glee

Even thought the writers didn't give her anywhere near the same level of material as they did in season one, Lynch still got every possible emotional reaction from her lines, whether it was shock, laughter, or genuine emotion. The episode where Sue's sister died showed her true range as an actress and she more than deserves to be the first woman to win back-to-back Norty Awards.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA
Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age (TNT)
Walton Goggins, Justified (FX)
Michael B Jordan, Friday Night Lights (DirecTV/NBC)
Delroy Lindo, The Chicago Code (Fox)
Michael Raymond-James, Terriers (FX)
Michael Shannon, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Toughest Omissions: John Slattery, Mad Men; Craig T Nelson, Parenthood; Michael Pitt, Boardwalk Empire; Dax Shepard, Parenthood; Joel Kinnaman, The Killing; Scott Bakula, Men of a Certain Age; Scott Caan, Hawaii 5-0

Previous Winners: 2010: Michael Emerson, Lost; 2009: Ryan Hurst, Sons of Anarchy; 2008: Michael Emerson, Lost; 2007: James Callis, Battlestar Galactica

Winner: Walton Goggins, Justified

This was the category I went back and forth about the most, but when it came time to make a final decision it was between Goggins and Raymond-James and I had to go with Goggins, who Boyd Crowder showed personal growth while slipping backwards to his old ways. Flat out one of the more interesting characters n TV right now and Goggins deserves to be recognized for his work.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA
Michelle Forbes, The Killing (AMC)
Regina King, Southland (TNT)
Margo Martindale, Justified (FX)
Kelly McDonald, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Kadee Strickland, Private Practice (ABC)
Ally Walker, Sons of Anarchy (FX)

Toughest Omissions: Christina Hendricks, Mad Men; Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy; Julia Stiles, Dexter

Previous Winners: 2010: Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men, 2009: Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy; 2008: Diana-Maria Riva, Side Order of Life; 2007: Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights

Winner: Margo Martindale, Justified

Martindale first stood out to me for her great work on The Riches but this past season of Justified served as her introduction to the masses; Mags Bennett was a character for the ages and there are very few people with the talent to have done with the role what she did. Here's hoping casting directors are beating down her door so we can see a lot more of her in the future.

BEST LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
H Jon Benjamin, Archer (FX)
Steve Carell , The Office (NBC)
Louis CK Louie (FX)
James Roday, PSYCH (USA)
Joel McHale, Community (NBC)

Toughest Omissions: Zachary Levi, Chuck

Previous Winners: Zachary Levi, Chuck; 2009: Steve Carell, The Office; 2008: Josh Radnor, How I Met Your Mother, 2007: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Winner: Steve Carell, The Office

Carell pulled off what I thought was impossible going into the year; he made Michael Scott human again. After a couple of seasons of plotlines that veered at times into downright cartoonish, Carell turned things around and found ways to ground the outgoing manager of Dunder Mifflin; his proposal to Holly brought tears to my eyes and he was note perfect in his final episode.

BEST LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
Patricia Heaton, The Middle (ABC)
Laura Linney, The Big C (Showtime)
Melissa McCarthy, Mike and Molly (CBS)
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope (Fox)
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (NBC)

Toughest Omissions: Courtney Cox, Cougar Town; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie;

Previous Winners: 2010: Courtney Cox, Cougar Town; 2009: Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?; 2008: Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?; 2007: Laura Kightlinger, The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman

Winner: Laura Linney, The Big C

Linney stands out among a group of very strong contenders with her ability to find little moments even in the showiest of scenes. She was authentic in everything she did in The Big C's first season and made Cathy seem like a living, breathing person as opposed to a character on a TV show.

BEST LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights (DirecTV/NBC)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
Donal Logue, Terriers (FX)
Timothy Olyphant, Justified (FX)
Ray Romano, Men of a Certain Age (TNT)

Toughest Omissions: Peter Krause, Parenthood; Wendell Pierce, Treme; Michael C Hall, Dexter; Andrew Lincoln, Walking Dead

Previous Winners: 2010: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad; 2009: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad; 2008: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad; 2007: Denis Leary, Rescue Me

Winner: Jon Hamm, Mad Men.

Finally, Bryan Cranston's streak is over. I'm not sure that would have been the case had Breaking Bad aired during the eligibility period but I'm also not sure anyone would have been better than Hamm was on Mad Men this year, showing sides of Don Draper the audience had never seen before. Mad Men simply doesn't work if you don't fully buy into Draper and Hamm made sure that you did that by taking viewers on a ride that made Don that much more human, which in turn made him more interesting than ever before.

BEST LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA
Khandi Alexander, Treme (HBO)
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights (DirecTV/NBC)
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (CBS)
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men (AMC)
Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy (FX)
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer (TNT)

Toughest Omissions: Lisa Edelstein, House; Mirelle Enos, The Killing; Mary McCormack, In Plain Sight;

Previous Winners:2010: Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy; 2009: Jill Scott, The # 1 Ladies Detective Agency; 2008: Mary McDonnell, Battlestar Galactica; 2007: Minnie Driver, The Riches

Winner: Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

TV history is filled with characters who go through stages of emotional growth and maturity - finding themselves, if you will - and it's usually handled in one or two episodes after the character in question is given a big speech and/or faces some kind of loss in order to come to grips with the better life choices they need to be making. Sometimes this is handled well, other times with a "Very Special Episode" feel. What Mad Men has done with Peggy Olson is an entirely different animal altogether, showing us a character actually forming her personality, and the brilliance with which Elisabeth Moss has portrayed this journey is nothing short of remarkable. Her performance is never shaded in ways to get you to like Peggy or take her side; Moss is confident enough in her work that she knows we viewers will want to come along for the ride, recognizing in Peggy not only the best of ourselves in the moments where she hits her strides but the painful, sometimes embarrassing awkwardness that comes with that kind of growth. I truly believe that there is no other actress who could have played this part, and that's about as high as praise gets.

Ladies and gentleman, here to accept the award is Elisabeth Moss…

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for such kind words about Peggy and for the honor of being named Best Actress, I truly appreciate it.

BEST SERIES, REALITY COMPETITION (NEW CATEGORY)
Chopped All-Stars (Food)
Food Network Star (Food)
Next Iron Chef (Food)
So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)
Top Chef All-Stars (Bravo)
The Voice (NBC)

Winner: Top Chef All-Stars

It would have been hard for Top Chef All-Stars to screw things up with that collection of talent but thankfully they did not, sticking to the basics and letting the contestants and their food speak for itself. As good a season of a cooking show as I have ever seen.

BEST SERIES, NON-FICTION COMEDY (NEW CATEGORY)
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
The Dish (Style)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
The Soup (E!)
Tosh.0 (Comedy Central)

Winner: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

No show made gave me anywhere near the combination of belly laughs and moments of sheer frustration at both the current state of politics in the US and the coverage it receives from the media, which is a pretty damn neat accomplishment.

BEST SERIES, COMEDY
Archer, FX
Community, NBC
Louie, FX
Modern Family, ABC
Parks and Recreation, NBC
Raising Hope, Fox

Toughest Omissions: Cougar Town, The Big C, Glee, The League, The Office

Previous Winners: 2010: Glee; 2009: Chuck; 2008: The Office; 2007: The Office

Winner: Community

Not that this win is at all surprising for people who read TTTP regularly as I have been championing the show since it premiered. Community got better in season two by taking what it did well and turning it up to 11. I know I've said it many times before but no show on TV gets its viewers the way Community does, understanding that they love television but don't suffer any illusions about its shortcomings. Using a TV show to make fun of the format of other TV shows, and doing so simply by following that format to a T is downright brilliant if it works, and it did in a big way with the flashback episode.

But the show was more than just parody and meta-comedy; the cast is excellent, there were stories that moved along, and, oh yes, it's just plain funny no matter what style of humor it may be turning on its head that week.

There were a lot of excellent comedies on the air in the 2010-2011 season but none that consistently raised the bar the way Community did.

Here to accept the award on behalf of Community is series star and four time TTTP TV Entertainer of the Year Joel McHale…

Al, Two Tivos To Paradise, members of the Academy, comma, thank you for this prestigious award. It is great and my great honor to receive Best Comedy on behalf of Community. I will treasure this award, which has no physical manifestation, or if it does it got lost in the mail. More likely that Al is too cheap. This marks the first time that Community has received an award from a blog that is both a play on an Eddie Money lyric and a popular DVR device. It's like a Peabody, but from a blog, written by a guy from Boston...just like a Peabody.

I love working on Community, I really love going to work, but it's awards like this that are the icing on the cake. I hope no one from Glee, which won last year, comes after me. I am not sure what we can do next season to win again but Al has my phone number and I'm pretty sure that beats out whatever connection he has to anyone with Glee.

BEST SERIES, DRAMA
Friday Night Lights (DirecTV/NBC)
Justified (FX)
Mad Men (AMC)
Men of a Certain Age (TNT)
Terriers (FX)
The Walking Dead (AMC)

Toughest Omissions: Boardwalk Empire, Parenthood, Sons of Anarchy, The Killing, Dexter

Previous Winners: 2010: Friday Night Lights; 2009: Mad Men; 2008: Battlestar Galactica, 2007: Battlestar Galactica

Winner: Mad Men

Two words: The Suitcase. Two more words: Ida Blankenship. I suppose I could leave it at that and fans of Mad Men would nod their heads in agreement but for those of you who don't watch let me just say that The Suitcase was one of the best hours of TV of the year and perhaps the single best episode in series history, which is no small accomplishment, a tour-de-force for Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss. The Good News was another standout hour – anytime we get to see Don being his true self in a relaxed state it's a joy – as was Waldorf Stories, where we saw how Don came to work Sterling Cooper.

Throughout all 13 episodes were the sharp writing, dead-on performances, snapping wit, perfect casting, and attention to detail that we've come to expect from Mad Men over the course of the shows four seasons. It's kind of astounding to think that a show that has received the level of kudos as Mad Men could actually get better in its fourth season, especially with expectations so high coming off of the brilliant finale of season three, but that's exactly what happened. Mad Men is the best show on TV right now and one of the best in TV history.

Here to accept the award on behalf of the show is two time Norty winner Elisabeth Moss…

On behalf of the show, thank you for such a wonderful compliment of Best Drama. I know each and every one of the cast and crew thanks you as well.

And there we have it, the 2011 Norty Awards, honoring over 40 shows over 15+ networks; you may not agree with our picks but you can't argue we don't have an informed opinion! I'm sure you'll have your own thoughts on who should have been nominated and who you would have picked to win so please use the comments section below to sound off. When offering up suggestions keep in mind that there are only six nominees per category and one winner, so when you write about people/shows you think I over looked, add in who/what they should have replaced in those categories.

Sunny Day, Sweepin' The Clouds Away, On My Way To Where The Air Is Sweet
The Sesame Street video of the week…





But You Were Up To Your Old Tricks In Chapters Four Five And Six
All you need to know about the Nielsen's for the past 7 days…

THURSDAY
Wipeout was the best demo performer of the night…Expedition Impossible was down 25% in week two while Rookie Blue lost 13% of the demo audience from its season premiere…Love Bites was down yet again…The most watched program of the night was a rerun of The Mentalist, which pulled in 7.8 million viewers…

SUNDAY
Falling Skies was down 3% in total viewers and 7% in demos, very strong for week three, especially considering it was a holiday weekend…True Blood was down 47% from last week although much of that is explained by HBO having made the entire episode available to HBO GO subscribers almost a full week earlier…Leverage was down 30% in the demos from last week's season premiere…

MONDAY
NBC's coverage of July 4th celebrations topped the night in totals and demos…

TUESDAY
America's Got Talent's three hours were up 31% in demos and over 20% in total viewers from last week…MasterChef was up 10+% in both totals and demos…101 Ways to Leave a Game Show and Combat Hospital showed slight demo improvements…

All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Fox extended their options on the cast of Breaking In through mid-November, meaning there's a possibility the show might actually get a second season; look for the network to see how their new comedies do in the first couple of months of the season and then make a final decision…Comedy Central's latest roastee will be Charlie Sheen, with an air date of September 19th, just one hour after the now-Sheenless Two and a Half Men has its season premiere on CBS. Speaking of Sheen, his much rumored new TV project is an adaptation of the Adam Sandler film Anger Management where he will play the unorthodox therapist character that Jack Nicholson played on the big screen. No network, or even a writer, is attached as of yet…Glee cast news – Darren Criss and Harry Shum Jr have been upgraded to fulltime cast member status while Chord Overstreet's option was not picked up, so Sam may appear in a guest spot or two next season but that's it…The media firm Prospect Park has signed a multi-year licensing deal with ABC to produce and air new daily episodes of the recently cancelled soaps All My Children and One Life to Live to be streamed on the internet…Richard T Jones (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) is the latest quality actor to sign on for Hawaii 5-0's sophomore season…ESPN has signed a 12 year deal for US broadcasting rights of Wimbledon, ending NBC 40+ year coverage. ESPN, ESPN 2 and the web streaming ESPN3 will run matches live, a step up from the tape delay that was sometimes a part of NBC's coverage. ABC will air some recap and tape delay but only those matches ran live on ESPN… NBC's Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea made some cast changes this week, cutting three supporting players including TTTP fave Natalie Morales…Lady Gaga will guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance later this season…HBO is working on a documentary about Derek Jeter's quest for 3000 hits, with cameras having access to the Yankees shortstop at home and at work. Derek Jeter 3K will air later this year…The MLB network enjoyed a very strong second quarter, with primetime viewership up 49% from last year. MLB Tonight was up 53% from last year and the network's afternoon programming was way up, with The Rundown essentially doubling their live + same day audience and Intentional Talk jumping up 70+% as well…ABC Family launches their newest drama The Lying Game – identical twins who were separated at birth switch places to try to unravel the mystery surrounding their real family – on August 15th. Adrian Pasdar (Heroes) just booked a recurring role on the show…Look for Elizabeth Hurley to do multiple episodes of Gossip Girl in the fall…Law & Order: SVU will try to make the transition to two new leads easier on the audience by bringing back favorites Stephanie March (ADA Alex Cabot) and Diane Neal (ADA Casey Novak) for multiple episodes each…David Hasselhoff will guest on an episode of Sons of Anarchy as a former porn star who now works in adult film production…TTTP fave Charisma Carpenter will appear on an episode of Burn Notice…The New York Post is reporting that Dina Lohan will be a contestant on Dancing with the Stars in the fall…Russell T Davies, the creator of Torchwood and Queer as Folk, is developing a new series for Showtime called Cucumber…A&E has picked up a second season of Breakout Kings…James Spader officially signed on for the new season of The Office…NBC released their fall premiere dates this week: Sunday 9/11 – Football Night in America; Tuesday, 9/13 – Parenthood; Wednesday, 9/14 – Up All Night, Free Agents; Monday, 9/19 – The Sing Off, The Playboy Club; Tuesday, 9/20 – The Biggest Loser; Wednesday, 9/21 – Harry's Law, Law & Order: SVU; Thursday, 9/22 – Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Whitney, Prime Suspect; Friday, 9/23 – Chuck, GRIMM, Dateline…

Turns Out Not Where But Who You're With That Really Matters
The best thing I watched in the last seven days aka The Best of What's Around…
It took me three weeks – four hours of story – but I am now fully hooked on Falling Skies. The two hour pilot (really just two separate episodes aired back-to-back) left me somewhat underwhelmed but still interested enough to keep watching and what followed improved on both the shows strengths and weaknesses.

The aliens, in particular the skitters, are the creepiest things I have ever seen on TV and they use them almost perfectly, allowing the audience to see one showing some level of personality while a few minutes later I still freaked out a bit when one crawled on the ceiling at the motorcycle dealership. I am still not fully sold on Noah Wyle being right for this role but when he tells the alien, "I remember you, too" there is much needed steel in his voice.

The supporting cast continues to get moments to shine, in particular Will Patton showing what kind of talent he has as he that he can take such a stock character – and, to be honest, a stock character written pretty badly – and make him interesting. Steven Webber makes any series better, and I am hoping Colin Cunningham's Pope comes back soon.

Having Steven Spielberg as an executive producer was never more obvious than in last Sunday's closing scene, with the crew saying grace as they ate dinner; those type of heartstring moments are tough to pull off
and yet damn if it didn't work perfectly. I am always a sucker for explorations of faith in its many forms and what better storytelling venue than a group of folks facing the potential end of the world as they know it.

Great news came in late on Thursday when TNT renewed Falling Skies for a 10 episode second season that will air in the summer of 2012.

People Say I'm Crazy Doing What I'm Doing. Well, They Give Me All Kinds Of Warnings To Save Me From Ruin
What's flashed before my eyes the last seven days…Week two of Suits did not disappoint, with the cast continuing to shine plus the writers again showing that legal drama can exist without it being criminal in nature. I also laughed out loud a couple of times, more than I do for shows that are straight comedies…I know I've mentioned it before but one of the things that makes Food Network Star so good is that people go home in more or less the order they should, a rarity for a reality show. This is what happens when you have the network executives as part of the judges' panel…Loved seeing little Mozzie on White Collar, and especially finding out where he got his name from…The season/series finale of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution had me really hoping another network would pick the show up. It's highly entertaining and the world, TV and otherwise, is a better place because of its existence. How many other reality series can you say that about?!?!?!...The funniest person on TV the last few weeks? None other than Geoff Peterson of The Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Ok, maybe I should have said, "funniest entity on TV" but no one has made me laugh out loud more…I continue to wonder how it is I was so late to The Daily Show party and give Jon Stewart et al huge amount of credit in my weight loss as it is what I watch when exercising…Two episodes in and Louie is not only as good as last season but actually better.

TV Pick Of The Week
Torchwood is one of the best sci-fi series that the average American TV viewer has never heard of, and while Starz is not as mainstream as HB) or Showtime, there is no doubt that the new season – subtitled Miracle Day – airing on a US station will up its profile in a big way (previous seasons have run on BBC America after they premiered in England).

Torchwood is part Doctor Who (which it is itself a spin-off of), part team based procedural, with a whole lot of fun and some envelope pushing sexuality thrown into the mix as well. The first two seasons were solid television but the third – Children of Earth – was among the best TV programs of 2009. Some fans were not happy with a story that saw multiple beloved characters die but you can't expect the audience to buy into how high the stakes are without there being some sort of collateral damage.

John Barrowman (Captain Jack) and Gwen Cooper (Eve) are back along with Lauren Ambrose, Bill Pullman, and Mekhi Phifer, and Starz involvement means a bigger budget, so expect more special effects and worldwide locations. Series creator Russell T Davies is back as the chief creative force behind the season and he's got some high quality people writing episodes as well, including Jane Espenson (Battlestar Galactica, Gilmore Girls, Buffy) and John Shiban (Breaking Bad, Supernatural, The X-Files).






Don't miss the premiere of Torchwood: Miracle Day, tonight at 10pm on Starz.

There are actually a TON of season/series premieres this week (brand new shows are marked with an "*")…

*Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids*, Tonight, 10pm (TLC)
*Sunday Best, Sunday, 8pm (BET)
*Hoarding: Buried Alive, Sunday, 9pm (TLC)
*Famous Food*, Sunday, 10pm (VH-1)
*Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sunday, 10pm (HBO)
*Eureka, Monday, 8pm (Syfy)
*HGTV Design Star, Monday, 9pm (HGTV)
*Warehouse 13, 9pm, Monday (Syfy)
*Man vs. Wild, Monday, 9pm (Discovery)
*Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, Monday, 9pm (Travel)
*The Closer, Monday 9pm (TNT)
*Alphas*, 10pm Monday (Syfy)
*Rizzoli & Isles, Monday, 10pm (TNT)
*Surprise Homecoming*, Monday, 10pm (TLC)
*It's Worth What?*, Tuesday, 8pm (NBC)
*Chopped, Tuesday, 10pm (Food)
*Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape, Tuesday, 10pm (BBC America)
*Ghost Hunters International, Wednesday, 9pm (Syfy)
*Damages, Wednesday, 10pm (DirecTV)
*The Franchise*, Wednesday, 10pm (Showtime)
*Dance Moms*, Wednesday, 9pm (Lifetime)
*Legend Quest, Wednesday, 10pm (Syfy)
*Rescue Me, Wednesday, 10pm (FX)
*Rosanne's Nuts*, Wednesday, 10pm (Lifetime)
*Who The Bleep Did I Marry*, Wednesday, 10pm (Investigation Discovery)
*I Married A Mobster*, Wednesday, 10:30pm (Investigation Discovery)
*Sweet Home Alabama*, Thursday, 9pm (CMT)
*Texas Women*, Thursday, 10pm (CMT)
*The Green Room with Paul Provenza, Thursday, 11pm (Showtime)

Hope You Need My Love, Babe, Just Like I Need You
Here is some other noteworthy programming of the next seven days…

Most of the noteworthy TV items of the week are covered in the list of premieres above but there are a few other things worth your time…

*It's always fun when Ann Coulter stops by Real Time with Bill Maher (tonight, 10pm, HBO).

*Talk about topical; Discovery gives us a look at The Secrets of SEAL Team Six (Sunday, 9pm).

*A special edition of Primetime with Diane Sawyer (Sunday, 9pm, ABC) has an exclusive interview with kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard, who was held prisoner for 18 years by Phillip and Nancy Harrido.

*The Major League Baseball All-Star Game comes your way Tuesday night on Fox but the festivities start over the weekend, with The Futures Game on Sunday and then the new and improved Home Run Derby on Monday.

*Life Unexpected star Shiri Appleby guests on Royal Pains (Wednesday, 9pm, USA).

Two Tivos To Paradise
24 Restaurant Battle, 30 Rock, After the Catch, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antiques Roadshow, Archer, Auction Hunters, The Big C, Big Love, Boardwalk Empire, Being Human, Bones, Bored To Death, Breaking Bad, Burn Notice, Celebrity Apprentice, Cake Boss, Chopped, Chuck, The Closer, Community, Cougar Town, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, Entourage, Eureka, Fact or Faked, Fairly Legal, Flipping Out, Food Feuds, Food Network Challenge, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy, Ghost Hunters International, Ghost Lab, Glee, Gossip Girl, Great Food Truck Race, Grey's Anatomy, Happy Endings, The Hard Times of RJ Berger, Haunted Treasure, Hawaii 5-0, Hollywood Treasure, House, How I Met Your Mother, How To Make It In America, Hung, If You Really Knew Me, Iron Chef America, Justified, Kate Plus 8, The Killing, Last Comic Standing, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law and Order: Los Angeles, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Mad Men, Man v. Food Nation, Men of a Certain Age, The Middle, Mike and Molly, Modern Family, Next Food Network Star, Next Great American Restaurant, Next Iron Chef, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, The Office, One Tree Hill, Parks & Recreation, Private Practice, Project Runway, Psych, Raising Hope, Real Time With Bill Maher, Rescue Me, Restaurant Impossible, Royal Pains, Rules Of Engagement, Sanctuary, Saturday Night Live, Shear Genius, So You Think You Can Dance?, Sons of Anarchy, The Soup, Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…, Suits, Supernatural, Table For 12, Top Chef, Top Chef Just Desserts, Top Chef: Masters, Top Design, Torchwood, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, The Voice, The Walking Dead, Warehouse 13, Web Soup, Wilfred, Worst Cooks In America,

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another Two Tivos To Paradise.





I'd be disappointed if you did anything but rush to comment on this week's column, telling me where you think I got things wrong (come on, Game of Thrones fans, let me have it!) as well as the rare occurrence of you feeling like I was dead on with some of these. We'll be back next week with a full rundown of the Emmy nominations plus all the rest on the week in television!

Sources for this week's column include Daily Variety, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, and Hollywood Reporter (plus the web sites for those publications) as well as Aintit.cool.com, TVline.com & Deadline.com.